The Making of the Marauders
by nani'anela
Summary: Multi-Chap that I'm hoping to make very long! It's the boys' fifth year at Hogwarts, and the Marauders are going to take the world by storm this year. How did these characters in Rowling's novel develop into the people they turned into? Please review, first HP fic, I need a little encouragement! Gen, I might make a non-canon plot to keep things interesting. Title will change!
1. Chapter 1

The young boy was awakened by the loud roar and putter of the stalling motorcycle out the window, as his great big brown eyes slid open. The car ride had been long and arduous, moving from one home in the city down to one in the green country so his mother could be closer to grandmother. His foot was cramped and pressed up against a cardboard box, and as he looked out the window he imagined on a submarine and observing the world through a peephole.

At just five years old, he loved to people watch and imagine. The teenager on the motorcycle waiting with his converse shoe pressed to the cracking asphalt seemed to be the perfect mold for a cool person, like those men in the rock bands, in the little boy's opinion.

The heavy van strapped with moving boxes and the motorcycle were stalling side-by-side as they waited for the stoplight to change from red to green, and the little boy in the van perked up and pressed his tiny palm to the glass, trying to peer out and get a better view of the big boy on the motorcycle that was making so much noise with that roaring machine.

He didn't wear a helmet, so the little boy could see that he had shiny black hair that was falling just past his ears, all tousled around from the wind. He was staring straight ahead, his was strong with an almost perfectly straight angle, and perched along the bridge of his strong nose were a pair of black Ray-Bans. The little boy was a little bit surprised; instead of a cotton t-shirt like he had been expecting, the boy was wearing a button-up white shirt (untucked, of course), and a loose crimson and gold tie hanging down over his shoulders in two lines. He was wearing a shiny black leather jacket over the dress shirt, and plain black slacks. His motorcycle was puttering loudly, the machine big and powerful-looking as the little boy gawked at it.

The teen on the motorcycle finally turned to look at the little boy with his small palm pressed to the glass, his jaw hanging open just a little. The teen looked out at the small boy from over his sunglasses, his eyes were a deep brown, almost black, with no distinction between the iris and the pupil. They shone out brightly, reminding the boy of the big, black buttons on his favorite jumper.

The stoplight flicked to green. With a bone-rattling roar, the kid tucked in his feet and the motorcycle surged forward. The little boy watched in awe as the boy on the motorcycle tore in front of the van, and his jaw dropped as the motorcycle went faster and faster, and began to slowly lift off of the ground.

"Mum! Mum, look! It's a boy on a flying motorcycle!" The little boy bobbed up and down excitedly, his pudgy finger pointing at the dark black object that was now flying just above the dark expanse of roofs above all the brick apartments, dodging the chimneys and weather vanes.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" His mother finally went to see what the little boy was so excitedly pointing at, only to find nothing. To the boy's disappointment, the flying boy on the motorcycle seemed to disappear into thin air somewhere between the chimneys.

"Oh, dear. There's a difference between make-pretend and what's real, remember?" The mother reached back and ruffled her son's hair a little. Kids and their imaginations these days.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N_

_Hi everyone! _

_I really hope to continue this fic all the way through, and I'd love a little review to keep me motivated. I'd love any kind of suggestion or headcanon too! My vision for these boys is actually loosely based on this tumblr post (rlupin. tumblr dot com post/57995235660) with actors like Andrew Garfield for Remus, Aaron Johnson for James, etc, but also based a little bit on the lovely artwork by lovely viria over on deviantart ( viria13. deviantart dot com gallery/24966310). _

_But my descriptions of Peter are strictly headcanon..I thought that Peter would be, at first, surprisingly sweet and cute, just like a little baby rat very closely resembles a cute mouse. But as he gets older, he'd turn into the ugly rat we see in Harry's Generation. I feel bad by the amount of hate he gets; I think when he was little, he was actually an okay kid. He was still in Gryffindor, became an animagus for Remus, wholeheartedly part of the Marauders group, and stayed their friend. I think if he was that bad he wouldn't have done all that. Anyway, I hope you'll just get those kind of vibes without me telling you why, haha. _

_Last part of this long author's note, I promise! Two quick notes; 1) I am a huge HP fan, but I haven't done much with writing for it since the last movie came out two and a half years ago. So if I get something wrong, please don't hesitate to tell me! I would fix it right away! Also, I am completely 100% American, so sorry if a few phrases seem strange for them to say! I'm trying to keep a consistent voice, but they might sound a little American. I hope that doesn't detract from the story!_

_Well, on with the show! Thanks loads for reading!_

* * *

"Hey! Hey, Sirius!" A small voice piped up from within the crowd at the platform, a gangly kid jumping up and down amongst those waiting to board the scarlet train, just his excitedly waving arm could be seen over the sea of heads.

"Siriu- oh, pardon! Sirius!" The small kid pushed his way through the crowd, smiling brightly as he came up to the boy in the black leather jacket. He was practically swimming in his robes, stumbling a little as he finally broke free of the crowd.

"Ahaha, there's my little pipsqueak." Sirius smirked and pulled the gangly kid into a headlock, scrubbing his honey-coloured hair happily with his knuckles. "How you been, Pip?"

"Oh, you bugger, I hate that nickname!" Peter laughed and tried to wrentch himself out of Sirius's grasp. They all called him Pip; it was both a combination of his initials, Peter Ignatius Pettigrew, and also because he very closely resembled a pipsqueak mouse.

Peter had pole-thin legs with knobbly, often scraped-up knees, and he always seemed to be drowning in his robes. He had a shortly cropped head of honey-colored blond hair, and shiny blue eyes with a nose that ended in a little freckled bulb. He always seemed to be scurrying around, exciteable, and he had the 'true mouth of an Englishman', with jumble of teeth in his mouth, his front teeth sticking out just a little farther than the rest of his mash of pearly whites.

"Hurry, we have a booth saved! The train's leaving in three minutes!" Peter spoke in his usual quick quip, pushing through the crowds in which most people were a head taller than him.

Sirius chuckled a little as he saw all the first year's expressions, their skin pale and faces tight with worry as they huddled together, discussing houses and Hogwarts. He saunted with his hands tucked in the soft, cotton pockets of his leather jacket.

He finally caught a glimpse of the booth his friends were in, he peered through the glass door and saw that signature clear-cut jawbone and messy, dark brown hair.

James was quick to spring to his feet, a slightly lopsided grin on his face.

"Ah, there's my brother!" Sirius laughed, and the two bumped into a hug, pounding each other's backs with vigor.

They turned around to face the other boy sitting on the red, soft, carpeted bench seat. Remus grinned up at them, Sirius had his arm still slung around James.

"Hello, Remus." Sirius smiled at him, finally pulling his arm from James's shoulders and outstretching them, flipping his fingers up a little in a 'come here' gesture. "C'mon, it's not like you're contagious."

"Oh, shut up." Remus mumbled with a little smile on, standing up and letting Sirius pound him hard on the back. The taller boy with the long, dark hair examined his friend's face, his eyes flitting along the scars that riddled his cheeks, the bridge of his nose, the one scar that cut across part of his eyebrow and the light brown hairs didn't sprout from the tight, whitened skin anymore.

Remus was not ugly because of these scars. He had one of those kind faces, his chocolate brown eyes more weary than a kid his age's should have been, but a kind face nonetheless. He had light brown, almost dirty blonde hair, cut just a little shorter than Sirius's long locks, but long enough to still flop over his eyes.

"I'm not seeing any new scars, huh? Someone's gotten good at their potions." Sirius asked with a lift of a dark eyebrow, sitting back down opposite Remus and next to James, crossing his long legs at the ankles and crossing his arms.

"Ah, well, not exactly." Remus replied with a tiny, nervous grin, running his hand through his sandy blonde hair. "I just had my wrists chewed up by the chains every moon. I did get better at healing spells, though." He suddenly got a bright look in his chocolate brown eyes.

"Hey, Pips, do you have any little scrapes on those knees of yours?" Remus asked, just as the bean pole of a boy had finished closing the compartment door and had plopped down next to Remus.

"Oh, well, yes, a few." Peter fired out, with a tiny huff of a laugh at the end. He tapped at a fresh band-aid with one finger. "I was pulling some pie crust out of the oven, and these knees of mine aren't exactly coordinated with my body yet."

Remus slipped out his wand, a little smirk on his lips. "Mind if I...?"

"_No magic for underage wizards outside of Hogwarts_, Mr. Lupin!" The woman with the candy cart caught him off guard.

"Oh, yes! Quite sorry!" Remus stuttered, quickly jabbing his wand back into his brown robe pocket. His cheeks had already started flushing a slight pink.

The other three boys began snickering at him, and he tried to discretely sneak them an angry glance as he dug around for some money in his other coat pocket. Of course, the Ministry had lifted the ban on magic in Remus's case, because he would need to use healing spells on himself. They still monitored everything he did, but he was excited to show off how much better he'd gotten to his friends.

"I'll have ten chocolate frogs, please." Remus coughed in embarrassment into his fist. The slightly plump woman with her white apron pulled just a tad too tight took the money with a frown and opened a drawer to get him the candies.

"You know the cards are all rigged. They probably don't even make half the "exclusive" cards they say they do," James chuckled, readjusting his thick, square frames on his face. He was leaning back casually in his seat, his feet extended and crossed on the opposite cushion. He looked out at the crowd of families just beginning to slide away as the train began to chug from the station.

"Oh, but chocolate can cure anything." Remus shot back, taking his first box and opening it up, catching the frog that tried to leap away in one hand, tearing its head off easily with a rip of his teeth. "Yum." He licked a little bit of chocolate from the corner of his lips.

"You know, it's kinda creepy how fast you can do that, Re." Sirius laughed.

"I guess it's just the predator in me. _Rar_," Remus brought his hands up in a mock of claws, one hand still holding the frog. His eyes were laughing, a lock of light brown hair flopping in a spike down onto his forehead. In this moment, he looked like he couldn't hurt a fly, but his friends knew better. "Anyway," He spoke up around the chocolate in his mouth. "How's the Muggle world been treating you, mate?"

Sirius crossed his arms and pursed his lips a little. "Okay, I guess. I got that job down at the auto shop, especially because I have to pay for everything myself now. I specialize in motorcycles, and it's pretty nice getting to know those beauties. But going through the Ministry converting pounds into Galleons..._huge_ pain in the arse."

"Well, you always have had a thing for those motorcycles of yours. Tell me, how's Black Beauty doing?" James asked, his bright blue eyes crinkling at the corners behind those thick frames.

"It's _BLACK JACK_." Sirius rolled his eyes. "Seriously, I'm never letting you borrow her if you're not even going to remember the name."

"Siriusly?" James snickered into his hand.

"Oh, shut the _hell_ up!" Sirius found himself laughing too. "That joke was already old the first damn time you told it!" He slugged James hard on the shoulder.

"I thought Muggle wages won't exactly cover costs in the wizarding world." Remus spoke up, his scarred-up cheek bulging around a large mound of chocolate in his mouth.

"Yeah. I thought minimum wage is something like a quarter of a knut every hour." Peter piped up, swinging his legs a little. "Hey, Remus, mind if I have a frog?" His black sleeves were swallowing up his hands as the brought them together for a catch.

"Sure." Remus tossed him a shiny, purple box. "Catch."

"Thanks so much!" Peter practically squeaked, unpacking the box quickly and nibbling the head off before the frog could jump very far, very unlike Remus's lethal tearing of teeth.

"Well," Sirius pursed his lips a little, running his hand through his very long black locks, pushing them back out of the way from how they fell framing his handsome, dark-featured face. "My baby brother's been sneaking me a little bit of money. Just enough to get by on my own since mum kicked me out."

"Let's hope little Regs doesn't get caught, then." Remus frowned slightly. He always did care a little too much about other people, even if he barely knew them, like in the case with Sirius's younger brother Regulus.

"You know, for a Slytherin, he's actually got his heart in the right place." James nudged Sirius's shoulder just a little, trying to brighten him up. He knew talking about his little brother always got him feeling down, especially because they had been so close before Sirius had 'disrespected the House of Black' by being sorted into Gryffindor _and_ sympathizing with wizards without pure blood. "And you know me. I don't usually say that."

"Yeah. He's a good kid, still." Sirius said, his voice dropping a little, the mood in the room getting a little more somber. He cleared his throat. "Anyway. Black Jack's compressed into one of those little bewitched fit-anything jewelry boxes I bought from a shady guy in a trench coat in Diagon Alley, so we can use her to do some midnight pranks. That is, if that box doesn't explode on us or something."

"Hey, shh! Shut up! That's Evans!" James suddenly hissed, straightening up in his seat from the lounging he was doing before. He shoved his spectacles higher up on the bridge of his nose, as he desperately tried to smooth down some of his unruly brown hair.

"Who are you kidding? There's no taming of _that_ beast!" Sirius cracked himself up, tipping his head back to bump onto the wall as he let out a loud belly laugh.

"_What part of shut up don't you_- Oh! Yeah, uh, hey Lily." James gave her a little wave as she passed, his hand somehow finding his hair once again as his fingers tangled within the messy brown.

"Nice to see you haven't been _expelled_ yet, James." Lily said with a little flirty smile on her face, her green eyes sparkling easily, making it clear she was joking. She twirled a piece of long red hair with a finger, eventually flicking the strand over her shoulder.

"Well, I still have a year to try." James shot back, shooting her a bright, cheeky grin. Remus and Sirius met glances and both hid their mouths in their palms, small snorts could be heard.

"I'll see you in class, Potter." She gave him a small smile and continued down the small hallway, nodding at the other boys. "Nice to see you returning as well, Remus, Peter, Sirius." She flicked another strand of hair over her shoulder and smiled at her friends, picking their conversation up again.

After her and her friend's footsteps had faded enough, the boys exploded into laughter.

" '_Well, I still have a year to try!'_ " Sirius mocked, his face red at he clutched at his stomach. "Great Merlin, James, you're hopeless!"

"At this rate, she'd have three kids with Snivelus before she even notices you!" Remus laughed, having to cough a little as he'd inhaled a bit of chocolate.

"Oh, shuddup. You keep this up and none of you are allowed to be best man at my wedding." James shot back, sinking his chin into his large knitted Gryffindor scarf.

"You know you love us." Sirius smirked, bumping his shoulder hard. "And you know I'll be fighting tooth and nail against Remus here for Best Man spot. That is, if you ever actually.." He snorted again and dissolved into peels of laughter.

"If it's tooth and nail than you know I'd win." Remus then replied, grinning, which caused Sirius to give an especially hard belly laugh, covering his mouth with his palm. Yes, it was just going to be another year at Hogwarts for the Marauders. Or, so they believed as the train began to speed farther and farther away from Platform Nine and Three Quarters, parents huddled and still watching and waving away their children until the train was out of sight.


End file.
